Yves
Albert Feder

Harpsichords

established
1976, retired 2010

Yves Albert Feder
Harpsichords is pleased to recommend THE PARIS WORKSHOP and the ATELIER MARC DUCORNET of Montreuil (Paris) France.
TPW supplies harpsichord kits of extraordinary finish and quality
backed by years of experience working with kit builders; and Marc's finished instruments have established a worldwide reputation and are in use by major performers in Europe, America, and throughout the world.

Having also built a
variety of custom historical keyboard instruments myself here in the Killingworth workshops over the last 35 years, I've personally retired from instrument making and harpsichord service to devote myself primarily to my audio recording and production business.

Best wishes,

Yves

Information on Linda Skernick's activities as a performer can be found at

Snapshots from the life of a harpsichord, "Louis" built here in 1978.

Our Old Friend's left us in December
'99 and went to live at CONTINUO PRODUCTIONS, under the stewardship of famed baroque musician
RICHARD WYTON. "Louis" is available for rentals,
concerts, and recording sessions. He can be heard in concerts by
the HANOVERIAN ENSEMBLE
at Music Mountain in Falls Village, CT and other venues in New
York and New England.

Louis is a great veteran, having survived many tours and
performances by visiting artists.

Some technical notes - The compass is 63 notes
FF' - g''' - disposition 2X8' & 1X4', red with gold bands and
linen off-white inner lid. The Louis XVI stand has fluted turned
legs. I had the good fortune to learn making and finishing
keyboards from scratch from some extraordinary old world
craftsmen at the (then active) Pratt Read manufactory in
Ivoryton, Connecticut. Steve Jellens and Frank Stopa taught me
how to work with discarded ivory from old piano keyboards, and
with ebony, and with cutting basswood for the keylevers, and the
mysteries of hot glue - ! I also worked from the stringing
plan for the 1769 Edinburgh Taskin to make up the board/bridges-nuts/string
band. Quilling is a mix of delrin/celcon. Keyboard
action, including sharps, all hand made. Buckskin covered key end
surfaces. Instrument tuned to A415 and transposable to A440. A
very rich sounding instrument with a particularly flutey back 8'
register, Louis is a great concert hall harpsichord, terrific
projection.

At this point, Linda and I have several
harpsichords in house & I've finally gotten my latest large
French Double playing - a fully scratch instrument, double
transposer, closely derived from the 1769 Edinburgh Taskin with
some lessons learned from the 1770 Yale Taskin (an instrument
I've recorded in concert many dozens of times.) The new
instrument has a reedier, perhaps more trenchant sound; but the
old one has a dignity and suave character of tone that is most
delightful and inspiring.

Our "new" French Double still remains
unpainted after several years - but it is a beautiful instrument
with leathered registers and pearwood jacks, and is a double
transposer (down to A392 and up to A440, as desired). Various
recording sessions are being held this year and next.

Harpsichordist
Linda Skernick contemplating her program moments
before a concert.

And Practicing the night
before........

British harpsichordist SHARON GOULD onstage with our French
Double at the University of Delaware presenting a recital of
Couperin, Rameau, and J.S.Bach. During that tour, Sharon
performed on "Louis" at Washington's Phillips
Collection, The Chester, CT Old Meeting House Collomore Series,
and on Nantucket's Summer Musical Arts Series.

Here is the marvelous and extraordinary lutenist and
virginalist SUZANNE BLOCH at the keyboard of our French Double
shortly after it was built.

.

Here are some excerpts from our
sound files, Linda performing on various instruments:-

-Francois Couperin, Prelude
from "L'Art de toucher le clavecin" - performed in
concert at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
September 2000.

-John Dowland, "Lady Rich
Her Galliard" - performed on a 1935 John Dolmetsch Ottavina
belonging to the late Suzanne Bloch, restored in our workshops.
Performance done for public radio by Linda Skernick.

-Domenico ScarlattiMIDI
file. The quality of the sound from the embedded midi file will
depend on your soundcard or external midi-capable player. The
original performance by Linda Skernick was done on a Roland JV-90
multitimbral synthesizer, and transferred through a DigiDesign
ProTools III system. MIDI by Linda Skernick & Yves Feder.
Copyright 1998, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction prohibited.